Knox County Man Sentenced for Making False Declarations in Bankruptcy Proceeding

LONDON, Ky. - A Barboursville, Ky., man, Ray Dean, 58, was sentenced on Friday, to 5 months in prison and 5 months home detention, by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier for making false declarations in a bankruptcy proceeding.

According to his plea agreement, on April 13, 2021, Dean filed an application, as "Ray Dean jr", for funds under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which the federal government administered to give economic relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The Small Business Administration (SBA) approved the application for $200,000. Before receiving the funds, Dean electronically signed a Loan Authorization and Agreement in which he agreed that he would use the proceeds of the loan solely as working capital for his business to alleviate economic injury. After receiving the $200,000 loan, he withdrew the money, deposited it into a bank account associated with a church of which he was the pastor. Subsequently, Dean used $92,000 of the funds to purchase mobile homes.

On June 20, 2024, Dean filed a petition for bankruptcy and stated that his only liability was the $200,000 EIDL. As part of the bankruptcy filing, Dean was required to disclose any checking, savings, or other financial accounts. Dean only disclosed two accounts with a combined balance of $105 and fraudulently concealed his interest in the mobile homes and the bank account, which still had over $100,000 worth of EIDL proceeds.

Under federal law, Dean must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for two years.

Paul McCaffrey, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Lesley Allison, Special Agent in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Pittsburgh Field Division, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by USPIS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Boone prosecuted the sentencing on behalf of the United States.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department's response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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